COVID-19 infections, emergency department visits and hospitalizations are rising in Washington this summer — but most of the state’s residents have yet to get the most updated vaccine booster for the disease.
While the current uptick in infections isn’t anywhere near as bad as past years, it represents a “clear and consistent increase” since May and people should be taking precautions to protect themselves from the disease, said Dr. Eric Chow, chief of communicable disease epidemiology and immunizations for Seattle & King County’s public health department.
“Even at this point in the pandemic, COVID carries a higher risk of mortality than influenza,” Chow said. “Before the pandemic, we were already concerned about the risk of death for influenza, but now we have COVID circulating along with it.”
According to the state Department of Health, only 19% of Washingtonians have been vaccinated against COVID-19 with the most updated dose from 2023. In King County, 28% of its residents have received the updated vaccine.
“I worry people think COVID is behind us,” Chow said.
According to Chow, getting the most up-to-date vaccine is especially important for those at high-risk, including people over 65 and those with various health conditions, who may need additional doses to protect themselves, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.
Still, even young and healthy people are at risk of severe complications from COVID-19, such as long COVID, which can be detrimental to a person’s overall health and functioning. A person’s risk of getting long COVID increases with multiple infections, and an estimated 17 million Americans — roughly one in 10 who have been infected — currently have long COVID. Getting vaccinated and staying up-to-date on boosters can reduce your risk of getting long COVID, Chow said.
The state Department of Health’s dashboard says that from June 16 to June 22, there were 855 emergency visits — a 15% increase compared to the previous week — and 232 hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in the past week, about a 6% increase from the previous week.
Washington’s uptick is reflected nationwide, with cases growing or expected to grow in at least 39 states. Other respiratory infections, like influenza, usually show up each year in the fall and winter.
“With the extreme heat that we’re experiencing, people are going indoors into smaller spaces, and all that is a recipe for transmission,” said Brian Castrucci, an epidemiologist who leads the de Beaumont Foundation, a public health think tank.
The state Department of Health is continuing to recommend Washington residents receive the most recent COVID-19 vaccine, test after feeling symptoms or experiencing a COVID-19 exposure, wear a well-fitting face mask in crowded situations and open windows whenever possible. Chow also recommends people meet outdoors when possible.
Chow said he’s currently wearing an N95 respirator or KN95 mask in indoor spaces, crowded areas and while traveling by airplane, and he recommends the public do the same. He expects an updated COVID booster to be available in September, but said getting the most updated version now won’t preclude people from getting one in the future.
In the absence of mandates, state leaders should focus on educating the public, Castrucci said. He praised the state Department of Health’s efforts but said lawmakers and community leaders need to do more to increase availability of the vaccine.
“Is your local physician asking you, ‘Did you get your COVID-19 vaccine?’” Castrucci said. “Are employers setting up local vaccine booster clinics? I think the rate at which people are getting the vaccine booster is probably equivalent to the energies we are putting into providing it.”
King County is focusing a lot of its efforts in areas with the largest health disparities, Chow said, but that the kind of widespread effort that went on during the height of the pandemic can’t be replicated due to reduced federal funding.
The federal government’s program to bring free COVID vaccines to uninsured people ends in August, and Chow said he’s worried fewer people will have access to the September booster as a result.
Castrucci said he hopes states like Washington will consider putting more state dollars into public health, rather than relying on federal funding to keep their public health departments going.
“Unfortunately, Americans have learned to live with COVID, and because mortality rates aren’t ticking up, I don’t think we’ve been paying attention,” Castrucci said. “We are a nation that ignores things that aren’t in our face.”
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